''Benthocodon'' is a genus of

hydrozoans Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial spe ...

of the family

Rhopalonematidae Rhopalonematidae is a family of hydrozoans Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit ...

. The genus contains two known species: ''Benthocodon hyalinus'' and ''Benthocodon pedunculatus'', however due to the small size and red pigmentation, they can easily be confused with related genera. Unlike many

hydromedusae Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial spec ...

, these jellyfish do not have a

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

stage. Rather, they spend their entire lives in the water column as plankton. The genus ''Benthocodon'' can be found near the sea floor in the Pacific Ocean from Antarctica to California to the Arctic Ocean.Benthocodon hyalinus, Arctic Ocean biodiversity
/ref> The benthocodon's predators are mainly larger fish. They primarily feeds off of crustaceous and foraminifean forms. They live in the Pacific Ocean from California to Antarctica to the Arctic Ocean near the sea floor. They eat by paralyzing their prey using their red tentacles then they pull it in to consume. They also have a red inner membrane which helps when hunting due to it masking the bioluminescence of their prey so they can eat without attracting predators.

References

Rhopalonematidae Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Monotypic cnidarian genera Hydrozoan genera {{hydrozoa-stub